When Jim Roth became an assistant high school football coach at Southern Columbia (Catawissa, Pennsylvania) in the early 80’s, the Tigers hadn’t won a football game in two years. In fact, there was talk about ending the high school football program and focusing on soccer.
Entering the 2019 high school football season, Southern Columbia is on a 32-game win streak, the sixth longest active streak in America with a state-record nine state championships.
This year, Southern Columbia, which was the No. 1 team in the High School Football America Small Schools Top 25 in 2018, starts 2019 ranked No. 1 in the Small Schools Preseason Top 25.
Related: SC No. 1 in Small Schools Preseason Small Schools Top 25
The Tigers are loaded coming into the season, led by the No. 5 overall college football recruit — Julian Fleming, who is ranked as the No. 1 receiver in the nation. Fleming has given his verbal commitment to Ohio State.
Even though the Tigers are a small school, the SC is loaded with Division I talent.
Roth is the architect of the Southern Columbia program. He enters this season ranked No. 15 on America’s all-time high school football coaching wins list.
